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I hope that if you’re out there partying that you have a blast with the rest of your night/morning, and if you’re out there working a show tonight, please have a blast afterwards, even if it’s much after load-out. Â YOU DESERVE IT!

HAPPY NEW YEAR, everybody!Â Well if it isn’t a miracle – we survived the end of the world (twice now I think in 2012, once was the failed prediction by that guy Jack Van Impe), AND the 2012 Presidential Election, as well as many other completely ridiculous things that happened in 2012.Â Notice that the US Congress “passed” the bill that saves us from the big scary “Fiscal Cliff” in the US.Â Ah, good times, living the dream.

I really want to start being a better human being in 2013, both for myself and for humanity.Â I hope that the world starts to see the ways that we’re getting out of hand, and I hope that there is a grand fundamental revolution of the mind, as Jiddu Krishnamurti put it back several decades ago.Â Am I a dreamer?Â Yes, of course I am.Â But I have great dreams that are good and just and full of billions of people being happy.Â They are great dreams.Â In our lifetimes, I hope that we reach this new level of awareness, of consciousness that comes with all of us living together in some kind of harmony.Â That would certainly be a start, right?

Got a few minutes?Â Watch this video, then watch the second part.Â Just watch it.Â This is what it means to have a revolution of the mind.Â We need to all understand that we are the teacher and the student; we are the problem and the solution.

Let’s work together to be closer to being a civil civilization in 2013.Â I’m all for it. We owe it to ourselves to be something we can all be proud of, even if it means a fundamental change in our forward vision. I believe that we can do it together.

http://i2.wp.com/www.jimonlight.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/happy-new-year-2013.jpg?fit=512%2C640&ssl=1640512Jimhttp://www.jimonlight.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/jol-color-logo.pngJim2013-01-01 15:36:252013-01-01 15:39:10Let's Have A Revolution of The Mind in 2013

Hey, you got a minute or two? I want to say thanks to you! Watch this video:

Seriously now. I mean it, thank you. Let’s ROCK 2011!

http://www.jimonlight.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/jol-color-logo.png00Jimhttp://www.jimonlight.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/jol-color-logo.pngJim2011-01-07 07:07:332011-01-06 21:47:57A Top of 2011 Message from JimOnLight.com

After a small week-long break, I am back at the controls, ready to welcome in a new year. Â It’s been a crazy decade, hasn’t it? Â I got my start in lighting about 3 years before the newÂ millenniumÂ started – now we’re a new decade in and I am still proud and thrilled to be a part of our industry. Â I hope you are proud too – we’re pioneering folks, us lighting people!

I’m up to my eyeballs in it this morning, so I have a special treat for you on the first day back from all of your bye-bye-2009 debauchery. Â Aron Altmark from the League of Lighting Twitter Folk (that organization doesn’t exist, I just made it up), in all of hisÂ guerrillaÂ lighting Â glory has created some light art that I wanted to show everyone.. Â I asked him to write a guest post on the work. Â So – Aron, take it away!

Laser Graffiti – Aron Altmark

My inspiration for the laser graffiti project came from the Graffiti Research Labs L.A.S.E.R. Tag website. Theo, the creator of the software, has been working on this for several years now over in Europe, but I havenâ€™t seen anything like it done in the United States recently. My setup consists of a 3000 Lumen projector (anything above 2500 lumens will work, but depending on the size of the projection and ambient light, more is always better), a 30mW green laser pointer (found on Amazon for ~$30), a decent video camera (used both a Canon 3CCD GL2 and Canon Optura), and a laptop to interface with (I use a Macbook Pro, Windows works tooâ€”use Theoâ€™s Graffiti Research Labs L.A.S.E.R. Tag software). The camera needs to be able to have manual controls, as auto-focus will mess you up big time. The biggest consideration for any laser graffiti setup is power: I have a 250-ft heavy-gauge extension cord with an APC that connects everything up. A generator is preferable for portability, but being able to find outdoor power is a great skill to have. Also, itâ€™s good to have someone who knows OpenFrameworks (Thanks to Ryan Wilkinson for help with software issues!).

For me, I think the appeal of the Laser Graffiti project lies in its purity. I am currently a freelance lighting designer in Orlando and am always looking for ways to further our art. Projects like this one, where the participants are more â€œlight artistsâ€ than anything else, are truly beautiful to me. Doing art for artâ€™s sake, and putting a piece of art out there for anyone to see, is something we donâ€™t always get to do with traditional theatre. The L.A.S.E.R. Tag project in Vienna became a social and political forum for people to showcase their thoughts, feelings, and opinions on a massive scaleâ€”and that is really what drives me to draw inspiration from what they have done and put it in my back yard. Already, I have plans to take this setup on the campus of a university, and to use it as another form of expression for the students and faculty there. This is a method of self-expression and artistic freedom that doesnâ€™t harm anyone or anything, is fairly environmentally friendly, completely erasable, and can be showcased wherever there is a surface, a power source, and people to participate.

Stay tuned for more from me in the coming weeks, and please feel free to contact me with questions or comments: on Twitter (@aronaltmark) or by e-mail (aronaltmark@gmail.com)

Big thanks to Jim and JimOnLight.com for taking an interest in my work. Best blog on the net!

Thanks for writing that, Aron! Â Check out Aron’s images from that night:

2009 is nearly done.Â 2010 is about to make its debut performance.Â What are you doing tonight?

One thing is certain – I’m glad to be starting a new year, fresh and with the potential for great things.Â I have many things on my plate right now, and I hope to turn every one of those things into a success.Â I hope that you have the same kind of goals too – and I wish you the best in rocking the freaking house!

2010 is already shaping up to be a great year on JimOnLight.com – I have some big interviews in the next few weeks, video, and some new stuff we’re rolling out pretty soon.Â One thing is certain, and that is the fact that JimOnLight.com readers rock! From the deepest part of my heart, thank you so much for reading the site, and for making the site need to have a private server to handle the amount of traffic JimOnLight.com gets every day.Â Please keep sending me tips on articles I would like, please keep sending me your questions, and please keep letting me know when something gets messed up with the website.Â I appreciate it all!

I hope that you have a great New Year’s Eve with friends, family, and loved ones.Â Let’s set our goals high for 2010 so when we look back on New Year’s Eve 2010 and say “man, we kicked some butt in 2010!”

Remember, like I said last year and will continue to say this year – eat some bread or pasta or something with carbs in it to soak up all of that potential 2010 hangover!

http://i1.wp.com/www.jimonlight.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/nye.png?fit=584%2C593&ssl=1593584Jimhttp://www.jimonlight.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/jol-color-logo.pngJim2009-12-31 16:30:352011-05-10 15:23:24See You On The Flip Side, 2009!

Did You Know?

When a beam of light hits a surface and is turned away, we call it reflection.Â When a beam bends (changes speed) in a medium, it's called refraction.